An Unexpected Journey
by kanshou87
Summary: After suffering a humiliating defeat in the hands of the Avengers, Loki was brought back to Asgard to face his judgement. But his punishment turned out to be more than what he expected - trapped in the body of his most hated rival and an impossible quest to gather the fragments of Tesseract.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - And so it begins**

_Author's note: _

_This is my first collaboration fic written with __**SatansSin**__. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to her in helping me to make this prompt reality. I hope you all enjoy reading this and please remember to drop me a comment when you are done. Your feedback is highly appreciated. _

xx

It started with a blue spark. From a small flicker, it grew into bright light with burning intensity. It radiated brightly, enough to blind a man standing too close, enough to burn, not with heat, but with the lustre it let grow every passing moment.

A second later, the light faded into the background leaving behind a void of darkness.

And when it seemed nothing could happen, when it seemed that the only thing that could occur was over; it happened.

The earth beneath the desecrated citadel trembled and cracked open. Hot, molten lava seeped through the opening and formed a sea of crimson, burning, hissing, devouring everything in it's path from the living to the dead. Black holes tore open the sky of Asgard, sucking the city ruins and its remaining inhabitants into its vacuum belly, into the gaping maw from which there was no return.

Screams of agony filled the air as chaos reigned through the Golden Realm, the broken, bleeding, dying and violated realm left behind.

The blue tyrant let out maniacal bout of laughter, once after the other, excitement heightened to an insane pitch. His blood boiled with thrill as he watched the city burn into inexistence.

Oh how pleased his Mistress would be.

This is the end.

This is his new beginning.

xxx

"It was told that the Tesseract was a gift of miracles. Born in the deepest parts of the universe, the cosmic cube accumulates particles of energy and memories since the beginning of time. With so much power stored in its core, it could wipe us from existence if falls into the wrong hands."

King Odin, the All father and Protector of Nine Realms placed the metal container on his arm rest. He turned around and look at the figure at the bottom of the Dias, to the figures before him.

There stood Loki, the God of Mischief and former Prince of Asgard, hands and ankles shackled. A muzzle fitted into the prince's mouth, preventing him from speaking. Degrading, his position was, but the man knew no such word. For his head was high, his demeanour angry and his back straight. He was anything but a prisoner.

Loki gave the King a death stare.

Thor could see storm of madness brewing in his green orbs.

The eldest prince of Asgard stood beside his King, watching his brother closely even though Loki's magic was restrained. Thor knew not to underestimate Loki, it had cost him blood more times than he could count and scars he didn't want to count. The man was lethal, mad and stood for nothing, so he could sacrifice everything and it made him dangerous. He knew his Trickster of a brother was cunning and clever, he would flee as soon as he finds an opening.

King Odin paid no heed to Loki's threatening gaze and gestured the Einhenjars to urge the criminal forward. Loki tried to keep his regal composure even when he was pushed forward, waiting for his sentence.

"Loki Laufeyson" Odin's voice was deep, emphatic "for the crimes you willingly committed on Migard and for your betrayal to the House of Odin, for the betrayal of your family, for the lives lost on Jotunhiem…"

Loki rolled his eyes, Thor frowned.

"I sentence you to spend the rest of your days locked in the dungeons"

Loki scoffed and Thor closed his eyes in pain.

He didn't want this for Loki.

Odin slammed his spear onto the marble floor, solidifying his decision.

Thor flinched at the sound of Gungnir echoing through the halls. His father's word is the Law. Even though if Thor wants to, he could not undo his father's wishes.

Loki's blood boil upon hearing Odin's verdict. His piercing eyes speak volumes of his anger while he cursed silently.

_How dare you, All-father! How dare you place the blame on me for your mistakes. And now that I am of no use, you discard me without a second thought. _

Unbeknownst to Loki, his anger was getting a reaction from the Tesseract. The bluish glimmer grew stronger until the whole room was filled a blinding light…

XXX

When Loki opened his eyes the next time, he was no longer in chains. His first instinct was to escape from this place, summoning magic from within.

Nothing happened.

He tried again and again, horrified at his failed attempt.

The old goat had taken his magic! He had crippled him, thinking it will…

"Loki?"

It was his own voice that startled him from his panic mode.

When he looked up, Loki saw himself sprawled on the floor still chained like before.

And then it struck him.

He was no longer Loki.

He was Thor.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2: Destination Midgard

**Chapter 2 **

**Destination: Midgard**

A/N: I would like to thank SatansSin for helping me to beta this chapter. To my readers, I would like to apologise for the long delay. Please enjoy this chapter!

xxx

"I told you this was a bad idea, lummox."

"Which one? Being shredded into millions of particles or being squashed by your gigantic ass?"

Loki scoffed and got up. He dusted himself and pulled his brother up from the cold ground. It was scary to know how light his own weight, in contrast with Thor's. The brute could have easily torn him to shreds without need to exert extra strength.

"Well, technically you are referring to yourself. I'm only borrowing this body."

He dusted himself leaving his elder brother to do the surveillance. By the look of their surroundings, they both have landed quite a distance from the Avengers Tower. Handicapped by their lack of understanding of the other's skills, both gods have no means to use their power to get to their destination. Control was still a mess. Loki couldn't help but accidentally hurt Thor with his own brute strength. Similarly, Thor did not how to control the seidr within him, making him shift alternately between Aesir and Jotun form.

Loki felt sorry for his brother as he desperately trying to take charge of his appearance. It was fun to watch him struggle at first but the humor left him when he was reminded of his childhood. Loki remembered long ago, before his Jotun heritage was revealed to him by the Allfather, he had once switched himself into his ice giant form by accident. He was just a child when it happened. Driven by his inquisitive nature, Loki would try all the tricks he learned from books he got from the library despite what the consequences are.

_"Two dragon claws, three cinnamon leaves and a strand of hair. That's all." _

_Young Loki was excited when he saw the liquid in the cauldron bubbled and changed color. Clouds of yellow smoke puffed from the metal container when he threw all three items in. He recited the incantation from the book and focus on his seidr. _

_A deafening explosion filled the room leaving Loki coughing. He rushed to the nearest mirror in anticipating his success of imitation of his brother. Loki was greeted with a reflection of a frost giant; his skin and body was bright blue and eyes crimson red. _

_He screamed. _

_The guards who barged into his room were equally shocked as well. However, before they could do him any harm, Frigga rushed in and ordered the incident to be forgotten and scolded his son for practicing magic that was beyond him. But little did he knew, he was the appearance of that monster he saw in the mirror. _

_He is a frost giant runt. _

Loki detached the red cape behind him and covered Thor with it.

"Cover yourself before anyone sees you. I don't want to have necessary company from the Midgardian guardians nor SHEILD."

Loki is right. They would not want any unwanted attention while they are vulnerable like this. If being powerless was already bad enough, he could not fathom what would happen if they were exposed in public. His mortal enemies would not bat an eyelash to this opportunity to attack him and endanger Loki as well. 

"Thank you, Loki."

Thor clutched the cape around him gratefully and draped it around him. It seemed really strange to see how their role reversal played out. The thunder god would always be the one who did the offering, covering his little brother with the crimson cloth whenever he was hurt or cold. And Loki would accept it like his second skin. But as he outgrew his childhood, Loki rejected his offer more often until Thor finally stopped giving. It was interesting that his little brother is doing the exact same thing that he himself despised so.

Wrapped in his own cape, Thor walked beside Loki as he led the way. He found Loki's presence (himself in a way) comforting and wondered whether that was the reason his brother was so persistent to follow him wherever he goes. It hurt Thor a little when memories of his ignorant youth resurfaced.

_"Loki, you have got to stop following me everywhere. You are not a child anymore. Go and read a book or something.." _

_Thor scowled at his brother. He was really tired of Loki trailing him everywhere like a chick to its mother. He wanted his personal space and time with his friends. Loki's presence is getting really annoying and burdensome. _

_"But I want to be with you big brother. Having you around is more fun than being all by myself...Please, I won't bother you..Just let me stay..." Loki pleaded. _

_Thor sighed. _

_If there is one thing that made Thor weak, it was his brother's big green eyes. Maybe its time to for Loki to learn how to be independent. And so he firmed up his resolve and said no. _

_The prince could not forget how upset his brother was that day. He wailed and begged for Thor to change his mind but he cruelly rejected him outright. With a dejected face, his little brother walked back to his chambers all by himself while Thor joined his awaiting friends in the garden. Little did he know, that was the trigger point for Loki's change of heart. _

No conversation were exchanged between the two once siblings. It felt like an eternity before Loki and Thor reached the entrance to Avengers' Tower.

xxxx

"Jarvis, please inform Pepper that I'm on my way back. Tell her that I brought her a surprise gift for cancelling our date."

Tony Stark activated his accelerator, doubling up his speed as he soared across the skyline of Manhattan city.

"I'm sorry, sir but it seemed that Miss Pepper do not wish to be disturbed until further notice," the AI replied.

The audio of his secretary's voice echoed through his build in speakers.

_"I'm done with your excuses, Tony. Until the day when you learn how to respect others, don't come and find me. Or you will be sorry." _

Tony cringed on her late statement as the line went dead.

"It's alright, Jarvis. She will get over it. Must be the time of the month."

"As you wish, sir. On a separate note, you will be expecting two guests upon arrival."

Tony arched an eyebrow.

This late at night. As far as he's concerned, Hulk has taken off a vacation somewhere remote to vent off his rage and also shagging off an army of Hulkbusters, complementary of General Ross. On the other hand, Hawkeye and Widow went dating on a SHEILD mission and have yet to return. His Norse companion went MIA since the Chituari fleet invaded Manhanttan. And Captain America would probably in the training facility.

So who would be visiting him this late then?

Once Tony touchdown on the top of the tower and unsuit, he took the elevator down to greet his mysterious visitors.

He grinned when he saw his long lost friend at his doorstep and gave him a hug to which he failed to notice Loki's flinch.

"Welcome back, Point Break. What took you so long? The tower's not same without you and the big guy trying to smash things around."

Loki laughed mentally as Tony blabbered on the silly things the Avengers did in his absence.

Since when has his beloved brother been reduced to a Midgardian playmate? To the Green Beast nevertheless. It was hard to imagine having his brute brother in the same room as the Hulk without having one killing another.

It took a while before Tony realised the visitor's presence behind him.

"So you brought a friend?"

"Actually, its more of like foe. I believe you two have met."

Loki tugged the hem of the Thor's cape to which the Thunder God gasped, revealing his identity. Tony's face paled when he recognised the other as the villain Loki, the destroyer of their city.

"Are you mad, Thor?! Jarvis, activate Code Red. We have hostile in the house."

The security alarms blared upon his order. Platform on the walls begun to shift, revealing multiple machines within. All the weapons were fixed on target, waiting for their master's orders.

"Stop this madness! Loki, tell him the truth!"

"What if I don't want to, brother? Besides, I can always strike him down with your thunder if he attacks us."

He held the hilt of Mjonir firmly, feeling the battle rage uncoiling inside him.

"Stop it, Loki. Don't let it control you," he pleaded.

Thor was deadly afraid of the potential damage or death (in Tony Stark's case) Loki would caused if he accidentally release that rage. The thunder prince recognised the glimpse of killing rage in Loki's eyes, it was something he had mastered over the years. And now with a different host inhibiting the body, it was about to erupt again.

Before Tony could give his orders, Loki brought down Mjonir at him but his efforts were blocked by Thor. The prince could feel his back break as the metal head hit him and cried out in agony. Loki at the same time fell on the floor and writhed in pain.

_"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Remember, at any circumstance which you try to harm each other, the attacker will suffer the same effect in return." _

_Both sides tried to regain composure from the shock of pain they received from each other's blow. _

_Odin brought down Gungnir with a loud clank, echoing through the throne room. _

_"As your king, I order you two to work together and retrieve the fragments of the Tesseract. Without it, you will be doomed to forever remain in a body which was not yours." _

_Thor and Loki reluctantly kneeled in front of the All-father and accepted his orders. _

_This was going to be a long ride. _

"Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on?"

Tony could not believe what he was hearing. He retracted his firing order when both Thor and Loki fell on the floor looking like they are going to die of seizure. Two house robots came and brought them both to medical bay right after that. Lucky for the gods, Stark's technology was quick enough to offer the brothers medical solution that was sufficient to let the pain ebbed away despite the absence of Doctor Banner in the house.

"It looks like Loki...rather Thor was telling the truth, sir. I have analysed their speech and fighting patterns and found the exact match."

"Bloody unbelievable.. As if having Norse gods wandering around Manhattan is not bad enough."

"Friend Stark, can you please help us to undo this? It would be most welcome to have our bodies back."

Tony placed a hand on Thor's shoulders.

"Look, Thor. I know I'm a genius and all but like Jarvis said, there is something beyond science at play here. And you know how I fare in magic territory."

Thor nodded solemnly looking at himself in the mirror.

How long would he be trapped like this?

"Don't fret, Thor. Perhaps we can focus on locating the Tesseract fragment first?"

"Reindeer games is right. Do you happen to have a detector or some sort?"

Before either of them could speak, Captain America walked into the infirmary with his shield tucked on his forearm.

"I have a feeling where it is. Weird infra waves were detected downtown wiping off skyscrapers. And three guesses who is involved behind this."

He did a mask gesture and immediate the trio realised who the Captain was referring to.

Doctor Doom.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger. Please drop me a comment for feedback purposes. Really appreciate it!


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